Pyrethroid Pesticides – Overview, Occurrence, Effects, and Degradation

The paper overviews information about pyrethroids within the last century from the confirmation of the structures of the first two natural pyrethrins, including the synthesis of the first pyrethroid, allethrin, in 1949 to the last one, which was synthetized in 2018. Within a century, properties of both natural pyrethrins and also their synthetic analogues, pyrethroids, were evaluated. Many pesticides of the pyrethroid group show also negative effects which affect the environment but from all of the pesticide groups, such as organochlorinated ones or organophosphates, pyrethroids are identified as those having the smallest impact on the environment. The environmental consciousness led to an improvement in analytical methods, using which degradation and metabolite products were identified, some of them having also a negative impact similar to their original substance. It was also confirmed that pyrethroids, similarly to many other pesticides, have bioaccumulation properties and can penetrate via biological membranes by biological fluids.